WJPA Sports

WPIAL Soccer brackets
Bentworth boys head to Station Square Saturday afternoon in search of a fourth consecutive WPIAL soccer championship. The Bearcats face off against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the team they beat in each of the past two title matches.

The Trinity boys and Bentworth girls each have state qualifier matches, hoping to extend their seasons. Only the winners advance to the PIAA tournament that is set to begin on Tuesday. Trinity boys play at #3 West Allegheny Wednesday night with the Bentworth girls battling #6 Riverview Thursday at Avonworth.

State Qualifiers (winners only advance to PIAA tournament)
Wednesday, Nov. 4
3A Boys #4 Trinity at #3 West Allegheny, 7 pm

Thursday, Nov. 5
1A Girls #5 Bentworth vs. #6 Riverview, 6 pm at Avonworth

WPIAL Championship at Station Square
Saturday, Nov. 7
1A Boys #1 Bentworth vs. #3 OLSH, 5:45 pm

WPIAL Volleyball brackets
Peters Township and Waynesburg volleyball teams have semifinal matches Wednesday night, hoping to reach Saturday’s WPIAL Finals. #2 Waynesburg (3A) plays #3 Avonworth at North Allegheny. 5A #1 Peters Township faces off with #4 Penn-Trafford at Fox Chapel. The WPIAL championships are set for Peters Township’s AHN Arena. 1A & 6A finals will be on Thursday, Nov. 5. The other four championship matches will be played on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Fort Cherry’s hopes of reaching the finals ended in a 5-set loss to #3 Frazier. The Rangers play #4 Shenango Thursday in the WPIAL third-place match to determine seeding into the PIAA brackets. All three teams from the two-county area have clinched state tournament bids.

Semifinals
Wednesday, Nov. 4
3A #2 Waynesburg vs. #3 Avonworth, 6 pm at North Allegheny
5A #1 Peters Township vs. #4 Penn-Trafford, 7:30 pm at Fox Chapel

Third-Place Match
Thursday, Nov. 5
2A #2 Fort Cherry vs. #4 Shenango, 7 pm at OLSH

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tomas Hertl’s second goal of the night with 32 seconds left in regulation lifted the Vegas Golden Knights past the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. Hertl tipped a pass from Mark Stone past Pittsburgh’s goaltender Arturs Silovs to give the Golden Knights just their second road win over the Penguins in franchise history. Trevor Connelly’s breakaway goal midway through the third period tied the game for Vegas after Pittsburgh briefly surged to take the lead. Adin Hill stopped 23 shots for the Golden Knights. Tommy Novak and Rickard Rakell scored for the Penguins, who have dropped seven of nine.

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has proposed delaying the start of a salary cap until 2028. The league says teams have too many commitments for the 2027 season to reduce spending quickly. On Tuesday, owners proposed a hard cap of $258.2 million for 2028 and a mandatory floor of $180.2 million. The proposal uses luxury tax payrolls with average annual values. MLB spokesman Glen Caplin says the delay allows a smoother transition without affecting key player benefits. These benefits include earlier free agency, a $1 million minimum salary and a 30% increase to the pre-arbitration bonus pool.

The undefeated Miami Hurricanes received top billing in the season’s first College Football Playoff rankings, with Georgia, undefeated Utah and defending national champion Indiana filling out the top four spots in the initial projected playoff bracket. The biggest surprise from the selection committee was its choice to rank Notre Dame 11th — seven spots lower than its spot in the AP Top 25 and the last team in the bracket if the playoffs started today. The rest of the rankings: No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 Texas and undefeated UCLA at No. 8. BYU was slotted in the ninth spot, followed by Ole Miss, the Irish and Ohio State.